As is often the case after a new product is launched, Consumer Reports has delivered its verdict, and as is often the case, it is not very favorable to Apple. The HomePod receives a "very good" rating but ranks slightly behind the Google Home Max and the Sonos One., two smart speakers direct competition to the new HomePod.
Despite the fact that many blogs and experts have placed the HomePod in the first place of smart speakers, ahead of any similar product that is currently on the market, Consumer Reports releases this report that contradicts practically the entire network . Yet history tells us that this report has little validity, and may even change in a few weeks.
What is Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports is an American magazine that is dedicated to independently analyzing consumer products. It can be said that it is something similar to the OCU organization in Spain. No to this any type of advertising and you pay for all your products in order to guarantee maximum objectivity in your analysis. In addition to scoring new products, it also publishes shopping guides recommending the smartest purchases by comparing similar products from the same brands. According to Wikipedia the magazine has about 7 million subscribers, but its relevance is greater since many other media echo its analysis, being an important reference within the technological world.
His publications are not exempt from controversy and rectifications, including court rulings against. It is well known his report published in 2006 in which he said that six hybrid vehicles would not save their buyers money but quite the opposite, and then have to rectify his report stating that he had incorrectly calculated their depreciation. Just a year later it released another devastating report claiming that only two child safety seats passed side crash tests in the United States, which caused the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration itself to repeat those tests and force Consumer Reports to admit that it had performed its tests under the wrong conditions and that is why their results were contrary.
The iPhone 4 and the AntennaGate
Even the youngest of the safe havens who have heard of the famous iPhone 4 failure that lost coverage if you held it tight with one hand, completely covering a certain area of its metal edge. The one known as AntennaGate made Steve Jobs himself come out teaching us how to take the iPhone correctly, but finally forced Apple to respond by offering a gift bumper or case for all users who complained about this failure. Consumer Reports also starred in a new controversy with this problem and its review of the iPhone 4.
The publication launched a report in which it said that it did not recommend the purchase of this terminal, due to this antenna failure. However, the full post, which was only visible to paying subscribers, rated the iPhone 4 as the best smartphone on the market at the time. Not recommending the purchase of the phone that you rate as the best on the market is still a fairly obvious incongruity, but since most publications and readers were left with the free summary of the publication in which the final note of the device did not appear, the thing did not reach major. In this case, Consumer Reports did not rectify or publish any explanation in this regard.
The MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and its "problem" with the battery
More recent is the case of the MacBook Pro. When these new notebooks hit the market with their all-new Touch Bar in 2016, the Consumer Reports report was again devastating, not recommending their purchase due to serious battery problems. The publication gave uneven results, with battery life ranging from 4 hours, somewhat ridiculous, to 19 hours., even more than what Apple indicated on its website. Despite this suspiciously strange data, Consumer Reports released its verdict, causing a controversial snowfall in which it was once again scalded.
It turns out that the tests were carried out by activating an option in Safari that is intended only for developers, and that it is true that it had a bug that caused excessive consumption of resources (solved later by Apple) but of course it was not something that the normal user would to use on a day-to-day basis. Once the tests were carried out in the right conditions, he rectified his results and ended up recommending the purchase of the MacBook Pro..
The HomePod, waiting for a new rectification?
Given what we have seen, and taking into account that Consumer Reports has taken just three days to launch your verdict, it would not be strange that within a couple of weeks the publication changes its verdict, especially if we pay attention to the fact that the publication itself Consumer Reports says in its analysis that "full test results will be published in the next few weeks" and that one of the most important features of the HomePod, which is nothing more and nothing less than its adaptive sound, "is a feature that has not been evaluated in tests."
The Verge, what hi-fi: Engadget They claim that the HomePod is the best smart speaker in terms of sound that they have been able to test, and they are not exactly publications that have qualms about criticizing Apple products when necessary. In Reddit has become very famous the in-depth review that concludes that the HomePod sounds better than one of the most acclaimed speakers by experts and priced at $ 999. This story is not over, for sure.